Items Tagged ‘Genetic Counseling’

Stephanie Van Doren never realized that taking 30 mile bike rides in the Florida heat was putting her life at risk. But, care for digestive problems also uncovered that she was at risk for an aortic dissection, a potentially fatal condition that could occur with intense exercise. Her care team at Mayo Clinic’s campus in […]

New genomic technologies offer great promise for better diagnostic tests and treatments for many conditions. But they also pose new ethical questions – ones physicians and patients must address when making decisions about medical care. For example, genetic tests can determine if a couple is at risk of having a child with a genetic condition. […]

Sandy Pobanz knows Mayo Clinic’s campus in Arizona very well. She volunteers with the Mayo Clinic Caring Canines Therapy Dog Program with her English golden retrievers, Benji and Teddy. They provide a special brand of comfort to patients in the Outpatient Radiation Oncology waiting area on Mayo Clinic’s Arizona campus in Scottsdale and Mayo Clinic […]

Many patients and their families search for years for answers to undiagnosed medical conditions, hoping for a diagnosis and treatment to help relieve often debilitating symptoms. Some of these patients may be candidates for whole exome sequencing, a genetic test that looks at the estimated 20,000 genes that may give us an answer to the […]

Traditionally genetic counselors have worked in the clinical setting, meeting with patients to discuss their risk for developing genetic diseases or helping them understand the genetic factors behind their health condition. With new discoveries about the impact of genetics on health and disease, the many roles that genetic counselors can play continue to expand. New […]

Being a genetic counselor is almost like being a sleuth. Genetic counselors work alongside physicians to help patients understand how their genetic test results may provide answers to often mysterious illnesses. As DNA testing becomes a more routine part of patient care, the need for genetic counselors and other health care providers versed in genomics […]

Why is family history important when discussing genomic medicine? What does right drug, right dose at the right time mean? Don’t doctors always do that? Why is my DNA important to understanding and treating my father’s diabetes and my brother’s depression? How can pharmacogenomics help with my mother’s cancer treatment? What the heck does any […]

When a person comes to the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, one of the most important people he or she will meet is a certified genetic counselor (CGC). But what is a certified genetic counselor and why is that person important to the care and treatment a patient will receive at CIM? Specialists who […]

Kelly Ormond, M.S., C.G.C. presents at the Individualizing Medicine Conference in 2013 on the traditional role of the Genetic Counselor, and where the future lies. A strong case of bridging the difference between family history and genomics is one case made in this presentation, and the acknowledgment is that family history will probably never […]

The Prostate Cancer Medically Optimized Genome-Enhanced Therapy (PROMOTE) study uses genetic clues in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CPRC) that may identify an individualized treatment approach for men with the disease. Those with advanced prostate cancer can have tumors resistant to standard hormone treatments that lower testosterone. Our goal is to improve treatments by using genetic sequencing to uncover […]